Richard
I,
also called Richard the Lionhearted, was king of England from 1189 to
1199. His knightly manner and his prowess in the Third Crusade
(1189-92) made him a popular king in his own time as well as the hero of
countless romantic legends.

The third son of Henry IIand
Elanor of Aquitane (rent the Academy Award-winning movie "Lion in
Winter" with Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn, and young Anthony
Hopkins as Richard), Richard was precocious politically and militarily
and soon outstripped his brothers and even his father to obtain the
crown. Though he spent most of his time fighting with various lords and
barons, he couldn't wait to realize his one ambition: to lead a Crusade
to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims. Displaying no concept of
planning for England, he sold everything to raise money
and lit out for the Holy Land with his allies. The theory that a common
heathen foe would unite these brave Christian soldiers was short-lived
and they fought like, well, heathens among themselves. Richard was
brilliant in the campaign but never quite recaptured Jerusalem. At one
point he was stuck with over three thousand Muslim prisoners; not being
able to ransom or keep them, he had their throats slit! On his way home
he was shipwrecked and spent over a year imprisoned in Austria and
Germany before he was ransomed. (This imprisonment was the inspiration
for the romantic legend of the minstrel-lover finding Richard by
singing outside his prison walls, which was written a hundred years
later.) He returned to England only briefly to reassert his kingship
after his long absence, then left for France never to return,spending the rest of his life doing what he did
best: fighting with his barons until he was finally wounded byan
unlucky crossbow bolt and died a few days later.

How do we know Richard was gay?

"Richard
was irresponsible and hot-tempered, possessed tremendous
energy, and was capable of great cruelty. He was more accomplished than
most of his royal family, a soldier of consummate ability, a skillful
politician, and capable of inspiring loyal service. In striking contrast with
his father and King John his brother, he was, there seems no doubt, a
homosexual. He had no children by Queen Berengaria, with
whom his relations seem to have been merely formal."

--
Encyclopedia Britannica

The
highlighted area
above, as was pointed out to me by a correspondent, is no longer on the
Britannica.com website. It's been changed to this:

"The
evidence that he was a homosexual seems persuasive but has been
strongly challenged."

I
wrote to Britannica to enquire about the change. They
responded:

Dear
Jay Spears,
Thank you very much for writing to us. This is a response directly from
our Editorial department:
Thank
you for your email concerning our article on Richard I. The sentence in
question was changed in 2005 to reflect recent scholarship, such as
noted historian John Gillingham's Richard I (1999), that challenges the
claim that Richard I was homosexual. The evidence for the assertion
largely rests on an official document that states Richard shared his
bed with France's Philip II. While some have argued that this indicates
a homosexual affair, others believe it was simply a show of their
political alliance. Our article was revised to reflect such
uncertainty. We hope this information is helpful. We appreciate your
interest in Britannica.
Sincerely,
Tom
Britannica Customer Service
[June 11, 2012]

Here's
the "official document" mentioned above:

A contemporary account of Richard and King Philip
of France:

"They ate every day at the
same table and from the same dish, and at night their beds did not
separate them. And the king of France loved him as his own soul; and
they loved each other so much that the king of England [Henry II,
Richard's father] was absolutely astonished at the passionate love
between them and marveled at it."

Historians like Gillingham seem to
believe that Richard & Philip sharing a bed was mere politics.
If that's true, how come Richard's father was "absolutley
astonished" and "marveled at it"? The author of the account
is Roger of Hoveden, who served in the courts and entourages of all
three kings, Henry, Richard, and Philip. His style is called
rigorously impersonal (on Wikipedia). He doesn't describe the
affair as "politics" but as "passionate love". What part of
"passionate love" does Gillingham not understand? His claim
of mere business-as-usual politics fails, and I'd venture to say he's
just another historian who can't stand the thought of Richard being
gay, even when a contemporary account indicates otherwise.
(You wouldn't believe how many indignant Greek people write
me about how Alexander the Great was not gay. Same thing
here.) I'm particularly disappointed in Encyclpopedia
Britannica for caving before this incredibly weak argument.

"There was
nothing remotely effeminate about Richard, of course, a crusader and
warrior devoted to hand-to-hand combat. Another of his lovers was a
young knight, a crusader, one Raife de Clermon, whom he freed from
Saracen captivity.
Richard was undoubtedly pious and constantly in the company of
prelates; there was no shame attached to his predilections and nothing
hidden. Though he did repent on several occasions of 'that sin,' public
confessions being a tradition of the church, there is no sign that it
was regarded as a more serious sin than many others."

Homosexuality in History;
Harcourt (June 1996)

"A valiant prince, a mighty warrior, and a noble
king, his character was strongly flawed by all-too-human vices. It was
perhaps this very combination of great courage and great strengths with
common failings that endows him with perennial appeal."

-- James A. Brundage

"Worthy, by the consent of all men, to sit with
King Arthur and Roland and other heroes of martial romance at some
Eternal Round Table, which we trust The Creator of the Universe in His
comprehension will not have forgotten to provide."

-- Winston Churchill

Go on a
crusade with Richard the Lionhearted. Your local library is a good
place to start.

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